#1001essengeschichten

Sol Zweihundert- Acht und Zwanzig—Das…ist Uns.

 228 Days. I was technically abroad from December 28, 2015 to August 12, 2016 for 228 days. Enough for a one-way trip to Mars and part of the way back I think I ended up learning more and experiencing much more than what I thought would fit the cookie cutter mold.

 To describe it like Sherlock Holmes, I began to look at things in a different way. Perhaps not like his typical look close for the details but not too deep to miss the big picture, but in appreciating, examining, understanding, and seeing the essence of food and how it is ever-evolving just like a human mind. I began to examine things in a wider context, a character trait, I hope to carry on henceforth.

 With the research I was doing on the history of food, I began to understand how so many different recipes came to fruition out of necessity: busy people, type of ingredients available, etc. I began to respect how the real world applications of engineering could apply to farming, and specifically understand how certain crops with my job, could be used in other, extraterrestrial applications. I earned a chance to interact with new people and see their customs and ideas about food and reasons for what shaped them. It could have been at work, with new friends I made during my travels, or even with my German family. I think for me, this experience is two-fold because it ties me to so many people I met during my time in Europe and I don’t think it so easy to forget them. Food brought us together for so many occasions, holidays and other celebrations, family events, and even random moments.

 As for the future, I think I’ll enjoy to randomly wonder about the history of certain foods, look it up, understand them, and see why it’s important. I guess the same technique applies to an engineering mind as well. I think that’s one of the other important things that this experience taught me, it’s the curiosity and desire to learn. I’ll also try to bring up discussions of food and smile quietly to myself as it quickly brings a conversation together.

 But the biggest thing I gained out of this experience that I didn’t see so easily coming? It was respect. Respect for the food I have in life, and the relationships and experiences that come with it. Respect for how certain foods have shaped my cultural identity as an American, Indian, in some aspects African as from my dad’s side, and now? As a European.

 I proudly say to anyone thinking of starting a project like this one to do it. You’ll be exposed to a world you may never thought of before and you’ll gain not only some incredible knowledge out it, but you’ll shape stronger relationships, appreciate the bonds that come from it, and begin to think in a unique but fruitful way.

 Food is one of those things that can be so hard to describe, it brings vehement emotions that can shake you like the sea or be calming as the waves of the ocean. It can inspire memories, experiences that wouldn’t be the same without food. It’s an essential cornerstone of work, social, and family cultures that become so colorful just because of it. A boy telling his German dad about his home garden on the other side of the world, a student sharing a family recipe for a work dinner, a bodybuilder aspiring new recipes to become healthier on the microscopic scale, or a chocolate truffle melting cold hearts standing on top of Jungfraujoch. These all were me and so much more. These were the experiences and essentials that defined the times I spent in Europe, and I can only imagine how they shape the lives of 7.4 billion people on the 3rd terrestrial orb from the Sun.

Sol Zweihundert- Vier und Zwanzig—Jeera

Jeera. In Gujarati or Hindi, it means Cumin. It’s an important aspect of a family recipe called Jeera Chicken that my dad’s side picked up on when they lived in Africa. My mom learned it from them, and later I got the recipe from her.

 When we were talking at a concert at a Bier Garten before my last week of work, several students and I decided that we could cook it for my last day at work. It would be a fitting sendoff from me, and a chance for me to brag about my cooking skill.

 Several friends gathered the ingredients Wednesday morning, and with prep completed in the morning, we were ready to cook at the evening twilight. I look back to when I filled out my honors proposal for the experience and one of the things I was aiming towards was sharing my food and culture with others, and in some cases at work. I found it funny that on my last day of work, I was doing that. Cooking nearly a pound of rice if not more, having my friends roast pita breads for the 5 of us, and of course cooking the chicken itself. Let me tell you, it is so much nicer to cook when you have other people helping you prep and cook, not to mention clean, so I give a major shout out to everyone that helped.

Sol Zweihundert-Drei und Zwanzig —Dann Wir Sehen Uns

 The second is when I went to my landlord’s home in the artistic town of Worpswede last Sunday to grab some tea and cake. He was urging me two times over the course my stay to go visit him and his home. With encouragement from my mother and friend back home, I realized I should take advantage of the time I had left in Germany.

 It was a great experience, my roommate picked me up where the bus dropped me off and we headed off to the home. My landlord was taking a nap when I got there, but my landlady gave me a beautiful tour of their home and their very large garden. Several types of trees, plants, everything swaying in German breeze like rain in palpitating in the sky. I got to learn about their neighbors, my roommate’s childhood drawings, and in a way feel at home, my German home.

 My landlord and I went on talking about politics, religion, books, geography, and who knows what else for several hours. I was connecting to a kindred spirit. Mrs. Landlady made a fantastic cake with rice puffs (commonly used in Indian snacks!), chocolate, yogurt, fruit, and delicious black tea that felt so nice to drink in shifting atmosphere. I’d suppose homemade cake can always bring such a wonderful kick to things. Although it’s not always true, I don’t bake my own cakes enough!

Sol Zweihundert- Zwei und Zwanzig —Muci Bode

 My landlord told me about the nickname for gyms, Muci Bode or “Muscle Houses” when I inquired about gyms back in January. If got a chance to know me during the months of March to May, I was attempting to develop a six pack and be beach body ready for my week in Italy. I was actually trying to follow the Kris Gethin Bollywood Body by Design book. And man, left me tell you, I ate more than Loki racing the Giants.

 But it was good, because I earned an opportunity to see a side of Germany that most people wouldn’t necessarily look at first: a nutrition plan to get ripped.

 In my journey of six weeks, I was able to take advantage of certain German food products that I recommend for anyone trying to develop a better body:

 1.     Eiweis Brot—Protein Bread, per slice, it was around 100 calories, 10 g of Protein, 5 g of Carbs, and 4 g of Fat

2.     Quark—This was like greek yoghurt on steroids. Like if you took plain Greek Yoghurt and found a way to make it more disgusting, almost like a pure whey yoghurt. But like it or not, this hard to clean off your face dairy substance held 261 Calories, 30 g of Protein, maybe 2 g of Carbs, and 0 g of Fat per container.

 My goal was to eat around 180 to 210 grams of Protein a day. And there was a lot of sacrifice for this project, I was working out for nearly 3 hrs a day, eating 6-7 times a day, and just exhausted. In the end I did not end up with a six pack, but I did develop healthier eating habits. If anything I’ve learned what I want to build my nutrition plan towards and how I would want to shape my guidelines here on out. I enjoyed eating more vegetables and it was nice to see products of my labor and how it would be affecting my body. I now rank carrots as a favorable snack than chips! It was a fun thing to do, but I don’t think I exercise as extensively, but the diet? As the Germans say, Gerne, or “Of Course!”.

 Some other recipes I ended up using, or as far as I remember included:

·       Healthy Chicken Teriyaki

o   http://natashaskitchen.com/2015/12/11/easy-teriyaki-chicken/

·       Chiptotle Style Sofritas

o   http://www.chefdehome.com/Recipes/429/chipotle-sofritas-chipotle-mexican-grill-s-braised-sofritas-copycat

·       Baked Veggie Chips

o   http://allrecipes.com/recipe/237888/baked-zucchini-chips/

Sol Zweihundert-Ein und Zwanzig—Der Inder

 I’m writing the last couple of entries on the airplane right now back home. I was planning to right the last couple of entries while I was in Germany, but I think right now in the air, it feels very fitting to reflect back on these several recent memories.

 The first, is titled Der Inder. In German this means, “The Indian.” You heard my experiences about America when I discussed “Der Amerikaner”. But one important thing I kept forgetting about was that of the Indian side of things.

 In my experience in the several Indian restaurants I tried here in Germany, I wasn’t a big fan of dishes. They didn’t feel so rich in flavor like Krishna’s would do for me in Cincinnati, however they also didn’t incorporate heavier cream sauces in their dishes. For instance a tikka masala in Germany held more flavor through spice value than the saturations of milk or cream that you would in America. But that’s interesting for me because when I went to India last time, about eight years ago, I remember the dishes being rich in flavor by spices and also the cream based sauces. It makes me wonder why that’s the case in Europe.

 But from me being a snob and saying I could make better Indian food, I tried it and I think it worked for a certain extent. For instance, the local stores all usually have a ready sauce, but after trying a few, I’m not a big fan because they taste way full of preservatives. Instead, I found fortune in the Asian food stores where I felt like a little kid on Christmas morn opening presents at the sight of all the spices and sauces I could buy.

 But I think the best dish I ended up making, indian food wise, was the Chicken Tikka by the recipe of a famous Indian chef, Sanjeev Kapoor. It was dry, yet flavourful, but it was a product of patience and love. I marinated the chicken nearly 12 hours beforehand in a yoghurt bath and it was somewhat exhausting to make.

 However my favorite memory that brings a smirk to my face is when I had my roommate try the Indian food I’ve made for the first time. I think it was specifically Chicken Tikka Masala, and wouldn’t you know it, a few weeks later, he and his friend were making it too. I felt pretty proud that my roommate had never had Indian food prior to meeting me, but he liked it enough that he wanted to make it for himself. Feels good when you can share another part of your culture with someone and they want to embrace it as well.

 I also learned that my ancestral calling of force feeding people even if they’re not hungry as taken root in me. Must be something about Patel DNA.

Sol Zweihundert-Fünfzehn—Highlights

I figured it might be a good idea to share some of the Food Highlights of the stuff we enjoyed on our tour:

 France

·       Chipotle (I was on cloud nine after not having it for six months)

·       Corn/Maple cakes for breakfast

 Switzerland

·       Chocolate of course

 Italy

·       Italian Pizza (although Pizza Hut still reigns supreme in my heart…and probably arteries)

·       Tiramisu from a place called Chef Express Italy

·       Roasted Chestnuts

 Germany

·       Bretzel, or as we Americans call Pretzels, freshly baked in Munich for breakfast

·       Ice Wine, sweet like grape juice

·       My family really enjoyed the butter biscuits or butter cookies as well as lemon wafer sticks from the grocery stores here, and my dad really enjoyed the mango ice cream

 Amsterdam/Netherlands

·       Really good Gouda cheese

·       New York style Pizza (ironically New York was once called New Amsterdam after the Dutch settlement before the English won it in war)

 Brugges, Belgium

·       Chocolate Waffles, good lord, it was so good

·       Flemish Fries (thick cut and well flavored all around) and Samurai Sauce (a nice spicy mayo)

Sol Zweihundert-Zwei—The Mexican Escapade

 I apologize for the delay in blog posts. I actually just got back from touring Europe (about 6 countries) and sent my family off from the Hamburg airport on Thursday. And let me tell you, the start to our tour, and later the food aspect, was extremely hectic.

 Skip back to Wednesday the 29th of June. I had just shown my family around Bremen, taking them on a custom tour where I work at DLR, and then to the city center of Bremen. After picking up several groceries, we headed home. My mom wanted to make some Mexican food for my landlord and his family and I invited several friends as well. Let me tell you, it is not easy to find Mexican cheese in Germany and as a result we replaced that cheese with cheddar slices that we shredded up using a shredder, perfect ingenuity right? Fortunately, we also had jalapeños as well which I was pretty pumped about.

 It was pretty awesome for me, to on one side at the patio table my family and then on my other side, my German family. My landlord also wanted me to practice my German as well, so I was translating what he and the Missus were saying in German back into English and translating my family’s responses back into German. It’s one of those extremely interesting moments that you didn’t really picture way back when. I didn’t expect to come to Germany and then later when my family would visit me I would be having dinner with them and what I’m proud to say is my German family.

 And while my Landlord kept saying his English was poor, my mom and I both agreed he spoke really well and it was just funny see the transactions of culture, language, and now food across oceans and across borders. And I don’t think my German family really ever had what my mom prepared before, nor did one of my friends that I invited.

 This is what my mom prepared:

·       Guacamole

·       Enchiladas (refried beans, corn, salsa, and black beans filling, flour tortillas, and enchilada sauce mixed with cream of mushroom soup, and of course the cheddar cheese topping)

·       Spanish Rice

 It was also accompanied by an appetizer of German cookies and homemade Indian chai. I also bought some Mango wine as well.

 I didn’t realize that my German family would be somewhat worried about the spice level, but fortunately my mom made everything mild, yet delicious, enough that everyone had a great time with the food. My Landlady when she drank the chai my mom made was excitingly happy to guess that we did in fact use Cardamom in the tea, which in fact was her favorite spice!

 Unfortunately, our dinner plans got a little kicked to the curb when my mom showed me an email from Airfrance saying that (even after we had checked in online, bought excess baggage, and I had printed our boarding passes), that our flight for the next day was canceled. Boy that helps make you lose an appetite.

 While we were eating dinner, I quickly tried to think of any solutions that immediately came to mind, I had nothing. I quickly scarfed down dinner and ran to my phone and called Airfrance. And basically the solution for an alternate flight, fortunately there was one, would be for us to go the Airport before the desk closed at 8 pm and get the passes. It was 7:07 when happened, meaning we only had limited time. Likewise, if we took the train it would take 45 minutes.

 Thank the heavens and gods out there because my Landlord was awesome and super kind enough to take us to the airport. Once we, my mother and I, got there we had to speak with the Lufthansa service people because that’s who our alternate service provider was going to be. But because Airfrance didn’t have a desk there and because we had already checked in online for the canceled flight, we had to call Airfrance again and play this whole elaborate game to tell us they couldn’t print our passes now but perhaps tomorrow morning for our 6:40 flight. I was on the verge of tears that we had come so far for this bullshit. Once again we were saved, the Lufthansa service member was kind enough and helped us and was able to call the personnel to manage to get our previous check in canceled. It wasn’t his job to necessarily do so, but he played like a champ for the nearly 30-40 minutes we were there. On the other line, Airfrance told me everything went through and the Lufthansa personnel was able to hand us our boarding passes. I still have some crap I have to deal with Airfrance yet, nearly 3 weeks later, but that’s a story for another time.

 Main important thing as we drove home with my landlord was that everything was figured out, and I was so happy it was. Because we had to be in Paris to meet the tour company the following day, and it was the first day of the tour. I should also mention that I gathered cupcakes for this occasion. Why did I cater cupcakes? Well my mother was turning “25” the next day and I wanted to make it special so I went out to Coockies Cupcakes in Bremen and got a dozen delicious Vanilla-strawberry cupcakes and it was worth the surprise in her face. She thought I wasn’t going to get her a cake, but I surprised her. Unfortunately, in the whole Airfrance dilemma, I forgot to give her her birthday card which is sitting on my desk and I’ll have to do so when I get back in about a few weeks. Nonetheless she was really happy, and for me that was worth it at the end of the day.

 I guess at the end of the day, I was very grateful for the food because my mom didn’t need to make a fancy feast, but I’m sure because I hadn’t had homemade food in 6 months, it made a big difference to her. Plus, she realized how much my German family had taken care of me and it was one way for her and my family to say thank you. Funny how food works that way huh? I’m writing this right now but with some bittersweetness in my eyes because I really do miss my family after not seeing them for half a year, and if anything I’ll miss my German family a lot when I leave here in 26 days. The sights, the sounds, and some of the things of Bremen I’ll miss a lot when I get back. But at the same time I look forward to seeing my family, friends, and Taco bell again, and while I switch out the Original Rhine to Over-The-Rhine, you always care an important piece of everywhere that you developed some roots in as you go along further.

Sol Einhundert SebensundSiebzig—Grandson of a Farmer

 I think it’s funny that my grandfather, my mom’s dad, was a farmer and now I, his grandson, am studying greenhouses on extraplanetary surfaces. Who knows, down the line when I hopefully have kids, they do as well, my descendants will be the first farmers on Mars.

 It’s kind of crazy though, to think how fast and ridiculous agricultural practices are coming. There was a time (about earlier than 12,000 years ago) where people were constant nomads, but then they learned to cultivate the Earth and this is what brought the rise of civilizations. I remember learning in school how the practice of crop rotation began to save farming fields. Likewise I’ve mentioned how in Cinque Terre how engineering practices worked hand and hand with the farmers of the area.

 And now? As we’re setting sail for the stars, it’s like we’re uncovering a whole other world of agriculture. Let me give you an example: almost all the crops in the world are grown by natural sunlight right? *Almost is key word here because of greenhouses and etc. But back to the naturally lighted crops, they’ve been that way for hundreds of millions of years. But did you know that the when light is broken into its color components, red and blue are actually more beneficial for growth speed?

 That’s just one thing. Imagine the variations of the 16-18 elements plants need to grow, the different gas mixtures, temperatures, pressures and like ten thousand other variations. It’s like Remy from Ratatouille trying to make his brother Emil visualize all the endless possibilities about food. In this case, we’re all like Emil, but who knows we may just turn out to be like Remy.

 And it’s actually really important too when you think about it. Not because for space exploration and so Matt Damon can make pizzas on Mars, but with how there are threats of various plant species susceptible to emerging diseases, with Carbon Dioxide levels on the rise and plants potentially unable to cope with them, and the inconsistently changing and growing 21st century world, planet Earth needs some R&R and some respect, after one we only have one planet, and I don’t know about you, but I kind would like to not die in a massive starvation event because humans got too greedy.

 It reminds me of a Hindu Myth way back when there was scarcely any food and the ruling King was evil. A group of priests got together and killed him, but they lamented stating that an evil king was better than no king. Out of the king’s decaying corpse, came an evil little dwarf who ran away, however there also came a handsome radiant young Prince who asked what the problem was. Learning of the no food plight, the Prince, named Prithu, went off to hunt down the Earth and hold her at ransom to get food back. The Earth transformed into a cow and Prithu chased her all around, and finally when he had her cornered, she pleaded with him and she and Prithu came to an accord where humans would now cultivate the land and in return the Earth would give them food. Thus the Earth was known Prithvi, in some sources,the daughter of Prithu. And to true heroic myth fashion, the day was saved and people began to farm the land and had food.